There was little doubt which make of tractor would be selected by Pembrokeshire livestock enterprise, Beechwood Farms Ltd, when the time came to change their 120hp MF 5465 tractor, which was purchased new in 2004 by the family farm partnership comprising Colin and Jean Rees and son, Andrew, who is responsible for managing the business.

The replacement tractor chosen by Andrew was a 145hp Massey Ferguson 6615 with Dyna-4 transmission, air-conditioned Essential cab and Engine Power Management (EPM), the latter delivering up to 10 per cent additional power when needed for demanding conditions.

Since 1949, when Colin Rees’s grandfather bought his very first tractor - a TVO-fuelled Ferguson TED-20 - the family has used no other but Ferguson and Massey Ferguson tractors on their 148-ha farm, which is located about eight miles south-west of the county town of Haverfordwest.

For more than 50 years, the Rees family have been committed Massey Ferguson users, valuing the reliability, performance and support delivered by the brand and its dealer network, an essential requirement on an all-livestock farm supporting a 200-head British Friesian milking herd plus followers, young stock and beef calves, the latter reared to 18 months of age.

While admitting that there had been one or two unhappy changes in local dealer representation over the years, Colin Rees commented that the relationship had entered a new era in April 2013 with the opening of an impressive branch in Haverfordwest by Massey Ferguson dealer, Brodyr Evans Bros, whose main base is at Llanrhystud, near Aberystwyth.

“For the past 15 years or so, we have had to travel 50 miles to the previously closest Massey Ferguson outlet near Cross Hands, Carmarthenshire, if we needed a part urgently or wanted to discuss a new tractor,” explained Colin. “The opening by Brodyr Evans of a comprehensive sales, service and parts facility at Haverfordwest is welcomed not just by ourselves, but by many other loyal and long-standing Massey Ferguson users in this part of Pembrokeshire.”

Son, Andrew, agreed, pointing out that he had grown up driving Massey Ferguson tractors and had no reason to look elsewhere, having found the tractors ideally suited to the farm, its topography and seasonal workloads.

“We visited Brodyr Evans’s new depot at Haverfordwest in early 2014 and spoke with sales manager, Owen Jewell, about replacing our MF 5465 with a slightly more powerful model,” said Andrew. “Owen showed us a new MF 6615 in the yard which met all of our requirements in terms of power output, specifications and size. The cost-to-change was close to what we expected so decided to buy the new tractor there and then, meaning we would have the new MF 6615 on the farm in time for silage making.”

Bought primarily for use with a 2,250 gal slurry tanker, a two-tonne twin disc fertiliser spreader and also for trailer work, the MF 6615’s first serious job on the farm was to cut and condition more than 50ha of grass ley ahead of the forage harvester.

“Although the controls took a little getting used to, it’s a lovely tractor to drive, with great visibility, loads of torque while also being really comfortable,” commented Colin Rees, who did most of the mowing behind the wheel of the MF 6615. “It’s a far cry from our first Massey Ferguson tractor but we have every confidence that it will do us proud for many years to come, backed by first-class support from a truly local dealer.”